Bahrain

Introduction Bahrain is located approximately half-way along the west coast of the Gulf between Saudi Arabia and Qatar, and it consists of 33 islands. The total area of Bahrain is 760 square kilometers. The main island is Bahrain, from which the country takes its name and where the capital, Manama, is located. (CIA, 2011) Since 1782 the country is being ruled by the Al-Khalifa family who captured the country from Persians. In the 19th century, in order to strengthen and protect their authority, the family signed some treaties with the United Kingdom and as a result Bahrain became a British protectorate. It could not gain independence until 1971. (Library of Congress, 1993) The total population of Bahrain is about 1,215,000. The population is mainly divided into two sects of Islam. The size of the Shia population is approximately 70% of the population. In addition, Shia Muslims are generally regarded as the original inhabitants of Bahrain and constitute the poorer section of the population. However the Sunni minority in the country is much more powerful and wealthier, Al-Khalifa family who are ruling the country since 1782 are also Sunni Muslim. (National Geographic, 2006) The very recent Bahraini uprising is actually a result of this division and the main purpose of the uprising was initially achieving to gain Shia populations political rights and equality. In order to understand Bahrain and its current situation better, we have to look at its history, its economy and of course some political developments. History Bahrain has a long past which goes back to ancient Bronze Age times where Dilmun, which is believed to be a port city and had trade with Mesopotamian civilizations, was located. Because of its strategically important location in the Persian Gulf, the area has been ruled and influenced by many civilizations like Sumerians, Assyrians, Babylonians, Persians, Portuguese, Arabs and the British. In 629 Bahrainis embraced Islam, at a very early date. (U.S State Department, 2011)

Bahrain has been ruled by the Al-Khalifa family, who captured Bahrain from Persians, since 1782. The British began contacts with the Al-Khalifa in early 1820s, when a general treaty was signed between Bahrain and English East India Company. Other peace and friendship treaties were signed with Great Britain in 1861, 1880 and 1892. These treaty arrangements strengthened the British rule in Bahrain and secured the Al-Khalifa rule over Bahrain. At the same time the treaties induced greater British involvement in the internal affairs of Bahrain. In 1919, after World War I, the British reconsidered their policy in Bahrain and moved beyond recommending reforms to the ruler. They intended to induce reforms through the civil courts, municipalities, schools and other modernizing institutions. Such reforms were opposed by many conservative groups, especially those of tribal origin. In 1921, the British tried to eliminate tribal power by introducing the administrative reforms. Such reforms became the major political issue in Bahrain, and then divided the people into two groups: one composed of peasants and urban Shia who suffered from the lack of standardized law and who favored the reforms, and the other of tribal groups and the merchants who opposed reforms. The merchants feared the loss of privileges in trade, port facilities and custom duties. Many merchants paid very little tax on their imports. Tribal chiefs considered the reforms a threat to their sovereignty. However, by 1929 the reforms were fully put in operation. The administrative and bureaucratic limited the power of tribal groups and of the urban merchant class. In addition, the reforms reorganized public services and economic resources, including pearl production, palm cultivation, fish traps, imports and exports. The new specialized public services focused on the court system, the state police and the various services and the civil departments, which later became specialized ministries after independence in 1971. Political development was enhanced in the 50s when the Committee of National Union was established in 1954. It consisted of 120 members representing different groups in Bahrain. During its 2 years of existence, the committee was able to fulfill several objectives. It obtained recognition from the government, negotiated with the British political agent as the countrys only popular organization and forced the government of Bahrain to appoint a committee representing government, management and workers to prepare a draft of a labor ordinance. In 1956 the committee was ordered by the government to break up and its leaders were tied and put in prison, and a state of emergency was declared. In 2002 however, the National Assembly of Bahrain which operates with political elections was created again, but it was again not a powerful and efficient assembly. Britains decision, in 1968 to withdraw from the Gulf by the end of 1971 created fear among the smaller Gulf States. In the same year, the British tried to establish a federation of Arab Emirates consisting of Bahrain, Qatar and the seven smaller sheikhdoms (Abu-Dhabi, Dubai, Sharjah, Ajman, Umm-al-Qawain, Ras-Alkhaimah and Fujairah).

The signing of a federation agreement was opposed by Iran because of its claim of sovereignty over Bahrain. Also, Qatar and the seven Emirates had been suspicious that the federation might be dominated by Bahrain whose population at that time was more than them and who had a more developed economy by then. Another factor was that border tensions between Qatar and Bahrain over the Hawar Islands, which belonged to Bahrain and claimed by Qatar, were not solved at that time. By 1970, Iran renounced its claims to Bahrain after the United Nations special envoys arrival in Bahrain, at the time they recommended Bahrain to be independent. In August 1971, Bahrain proclaimed its independence. After independence, the Al-Khalifa regime, based on the heredity succession of the rulers, was recognized as the legitimate form of government in Bahrain. (Fakhro, 1990) When the oil producing countries increased the price of oil in 1973 Bahrain was one of the countries which benefited the longest from this money gained from oil. An event that created instability was the Iranian Revolution in 1979 because the Sunni government was afraid that the Shia majority would support the revolution and want a similar one in Bahrain. In 1980, when the war broke out between Iran and Iraq, Gulf States initially wanted to remain neutral and mediate between the two countries. In 1986 they changed their position and took Iraqs side. There were some explosions in both Kuwait and Bahrain, and the countries blamed Iran about them and they got more alarmed about external threats. Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Oman, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates established the Gulf Cooperation Council in 1981, to pool resources to safeguard the stability of the region and to improve cooperation in politics, economics and security matters. These countries contributed nearly the half of the OPEC oil production. GCC contains 40% of the worlds oil reserves. (Libarary of Congress, 1993) Bahrains Shia majority often complained of receiving worse treatment and being discriminated by the Sunni ruling elite. The government even brought people from Pakistan and Syria in order to increase the Sunni population. Shiite Muslim could not participate in important political and military duties. Even though there is a National Assembly of Bahrain as mentioned earlier, it is not efficient and powerful. The Shiite protests, riots and violence often broke out since 1990s. But the most important of them was the very recent uprising this year in February. In their own words, their demand was "to take to the

streets on Monday 14 February in a peaceful and orderly manner in order to rewrite the constitution and to establish a body with a full popular mandate to investigate and hold to account economic, political and social violations, including stolen public wealth, political naturalization, arrests, torture and other oppressive security measures, institutional and economic corruption." (Al Jazeera, 2011) King offered money to each family, claimed to increase social spending, release some people from jail, but this was not sufficient for the protesters and massive protests continued to break down. The GCC troops especially led by Saudi Arabia entered Bahrain and

with the police, the repressed the protests in a brutal way. Saudi Arabia is also governed with monarchy and they saw the protests in Bahrain as a threat because it could spread to their own country, and the Saudi government justified its action by claiming that it was necessary to maintain stability and security in the country. (New York Times, 2011) The protests seems to
Saudi troops in Bahrain

settle down compared to the events in February and March now,

but because it is imposed by brutal power by killing many people, it would not be wrong to interpret that Shiite majority is not satisfied and even there is ban on demonstrations now, there can be other attempts by the Shiite to end inequality if they find an opportunity, because problems are not resolved for them, they are just suppressed.
Economy According to Heritage Foundations Index of Economic Freedom data published this year, Bahrains economic freedom rank is the 10th in the world and the 1st in the Middle East. Also, according to United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asias 2006 data, Bahrain is the fastest growing economy in the Arab world. Bahrains economy depends highly on oil. Production of aluminum, the second major export after oil also has importance. Also, today Bahrain serves as a very important Islamic banking centre. Bahrain also attracts many tourists, mostly from the Gulf region, but also from the UK and Germany. The CIA Factbook lists Bahrains industries as petroleum processing and refining, aluminum smelting, iron pelletization, fertilizers, Islamic and offshore banking, insurance, ship repair and tourism. (2011) Before discussing these, I think it is also important to talk about some historical economic sources. Prior to the discovery of oil in the early 1930s, Bahrains economy depended on three major sources of revenues: pearl diving, agriculture and trade. Other sources such as fishing and boat building were also important. This meant that sea, which supported pearl diving, fishing and trade activities, was the main source of economic activity. The pearl industry flourished in the 1920s, when the size of the Bahraini pearl diving fleet was established and consisted of 500 ships. In the 1930s, the pearl diving industry witnessed a rapid decline because of the international monetary crisis and the growth of the cultured pearl industry in Japan. By 1950 the pearl industry declined to the extent that there was not a single diver employed in the industry. (Fakhro, 1990) As for agriculture, the cultivated area of Bahrain is very small and is estimated to cover less than 10% of the total area of Bahrain. Dates (hurma) and alfalfa are traditionally important agricultural products. The decline of agriculture had started in the 1920s and continued until today. Many social and economic factors contributed to such decline. The system of land usage was the main social factor, and decreasing water resources and the scarcity of crop marketing were the major economic factors. Other factors are related to the

economic order that emerged with the oil industry, which made palm cultivation a luxury investment. The demand for dates also decreased as a result of the changing dietary habits of the Bahraini population; also, the collapse of the pearl fishing industry added to such decline because a large part of the dates produced had been eaten by pearl divers at sea (Khuri, 1980). More recent agricultural developments are the development of greenhouse agriculture, vegetable gardens, plant nurseries, poultry raising and dairy farms. (CIA, 2011) In addition, fish and shrimp are other products. But according to U.S Department of States 2011 data, agricultural products account for only 1% of GDP. (U.S Department of State, 2011) Trade could be considered the only sector that continued to flourish between Bahrain, the Gulf ports and the Eastern cost of Africa and India. The growth of foreign trade made more Bahrainis turn to investment in this sector. With the expansion of port facilities in 1953 and the establishing of a Free Trade Zone in 1957, the export trade began to flourish and many agencies for import-export were set up in Bahrain. The situation changed in the 1960s, and trade started declining when the Gulf States established their own port facilities and started importing directly from different places. However today, trade is very important, the Free Trade Agreement (FTA), signed in 2006 with the United States (the first FTA between a Gulf State and the U.S) was a significant development for the economy which also shows that they support foreign investment. (Fakhro, 1990) Coming to the more recent economic sources, the most important resource is definitely oil, which was discovered in 1932. In 1979, the government acquired full ownership of production resources. Bahrain depends on oil for 70% of its revenue and 30% of its GDP. However, decrease of oil resources is seen as an important economic problem in the long-run. Other than oil and other mineral products, aluminum and textile are also important exports. (CIA, 2011) Many multinational firms with business in the Gulf choose Bahrain for their business because of its advanced transportation and communication opportunities. Therefore it is not surprising that Bahrain became one of the fastest growing economies according to many different rankings. These facilities also provided Bahrain to become the worldwide center for Islamic banking. Banking and financial sector in Bahrain grew very rapidly and according to the Arabian Bussiness website, it became the fastest growing financial center in 2008. (Arabian Bussiness, 2008) Tourism is also important in Bahrain because the government has paid attention to this sector as part of its policy of economic diversification. (Fakhro, 1990) Tourists come to Bahrain mostly from the Gulf regions. The Department of Tourism has supervised all hotels, travel agencies and tourist activities, including guides, gift shops and restaurants. Margaret Flanagan, Bahrain Economic Development Board press officer, states that "There is renewed interest and investment in the cultural heritage of the Kingdom, which includes the UNESCO World Heritage Site, Qal'at al Bahrain, tens of thousands of ancient burial mounds,
Al Khamis, the oldest mosque in Bahrain, from 8th century

traditional merchants' houses, and the oldest mosque in the Gulf. Economic Development Board sees tourism as the key sector for growth. (Arabian Business, 2007) As a result, Bahrains economy is a very rapidly developing one and despite the fact that it is relying on oil, the economic sectors are actually very diversified. However, the scarcity of oil supply and water resources seems to be generating a big problem for the future. Politics Some issues about politics are already discussed in History section. Probably the most important political issue in Bahrains politics is the tension between the Sunni government and the Shia majority seeking for more rights for decades, which is already discussed before. We see political opposition throughout different periods, and very recently this year on February which were inspired by the demonstrations in other Middle Eastern countries such as Egypt and Tunisia. This political issue seems to persist and we will probably see more rebellions again, until there is a real solution. Bahrain is a constitutional hereditary monarchy, a new constitution was issued in 2002 on 14th February, which was later chosen as the beginning date of the massive demonstrations and protests in 2011. A constitution was established before too, in 1973 but it was suspended after a short time period. King is the chief of state, prime minister is the head of government, cabinet is assigned by the king and headed by the prime minister. (U.S State Department, 2011) Parliament is a bicameral one, where 40 members are elected to the Council of Representatives and 40 members are appointed by the king as the Consultative Shura Council. In the Shura Council, the Christian and Jew communities are also represented. The suffrage age is 18, female suffrage was recognized in 1973 but it was not until 2002 elections that women could vote and support elections (Guide to Women Leaders, 2010). There are three political parties represented in the National Assembly of Bahrain: Al Wefaq - the Shia Islamist party with 18 members, Al Asalah the Sunni Salafist party with 3 members and Al-Menbar Islamic Society Sunni Islamist with 2 members, and the rest is independent members. Al Wefaq National Islamic society is the largest party in Bahrain according to both election results and membership numbers, the party claims that it has 80,000 members. In 2002, the party protested the situation that the unelected Consultative Council appointed by the king has too much power in the constitution. It is a very radical Islamist party, some of its policies are to strict clothing policies for university students or restrict the display of lingerie models in shops (Gulf Daily News, 2006). Few months ago, the government threatened Al Wefaq by closing the party, because they have an impact on the recent uprising in February. Almost all of the political societies in Bahrain are religious based, which is an indicator of the role of radical Islam in the country. (Mohammed Zahid Manhjoob Zweri Research Institute, 2007) In World Report 2011: Bahrain, Human Rights Watch describes the human rights developments as dismal. Torture and ill-treatment are very common in Bahrain. They report states that during 2007-2009 period, the authorities practiced torture and ill-treatment in order to take testimony from suspicious people.

Freedom of expression is also very problematic, all of the opposition websites and blogs are blocked in the country. Publications of some opposing newspapers are also banned. Freedom of association is also problematic. The government does not accept the legal status of the Bahrain Center for Human Rights. Rights of migrants are also very poor: there are problems of withheld wages, passport confiscation, unsafe housing, excessive work hours and physical abuse. There are some NGOs like Bahrain Human Rights Society, Bahrain Center of Human Rights, Migrant Workers Protection Society, Bahrain Youth Human Rights Society but they have been either closed or ordered to close recently. (Human Rights Watch, 2010) Sources Al Jazeera. "Clashes Rock Bahraini Capital." AJE - Al Jazeera English. 17 Feb. 2011. Web.Cl BBC News. Bahrain Protests. BBC. 15 April 2011. CIA. CIA - The World Factbook. Central Intelligence Agency, 5 May 2011. Web. 8 May 2011. <https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/ba.html>. Fakhro, Munia A. Women at Work in the Gulf. Kegan Paul International. 1990. London and New York Human Rights Watch. 2010 Human Rights Report: Bahrain, 2010. J.S Birks and C.A Sinclair, Arap Manpower, London: Croom Helm, 1980, p.24 Law, Bill. Police Brutality Turns Bahrain Into Island of Fear. 6 April 2011 Library of Congress, 1993, lcweb2.loc.gov/frd/cs/bhtoc.html U.S. State Department. "Bahrain." U.S. State Department, 20 Jan. 2011. Web. 6 May 2011. <http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/26414.htm>. National Geographic Magazine, Oct. 2009, National Geographic special report on Bahrain, pg. 2-4 Hvidth, Martin. Economic and Institutional Reforms in the Arab Gulf Countries. The Middle East Journal - Volume 65, Number 1, Winter 2011, pp. 80-92 Embassy of the Kingdom of Bahrain in the United States; Bahrain's Embassy in the U.S. Responds to the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission Hearing on the Situation in Bahrain. (2011, May). Investment Weekly News,149. Retrieved May 12, 2011, from ABI/INFORM Trade & Industry. (Document ID: 2336973051). Gulf News: Gulf leaders review regional developments. (2011, May 11). Gulf News, Retrieved May 12, 2011, from ABI/INFORM Trade & Industry. (Document ID: 2342423971).